Da Mao (male) and Er Shun (female) will be sticking around in Calgary until 2023 but twin cubs Jia Panpan (male) and Jia Yueyue (female) will be leaving the Calgary Zoo in 2019. Ready to have a once in a lifetime opportunity to see pandas up close and personal in Alberta? Here’s your chance.
Christmas Glow is coming to Enjoy Centre and it’s going to be the largest indoor family Christmas festival in the Edmonton area!
Christmas Glow Garden is in town from November 22 – January 19 at the Enjoy Centre in St. Albert and will feature:
Summer is over but it doesn’t mean that the festival season has stopped in Alberta. Fall is a season of all things, pumpkins and harvest and you can get all that and more with these 5 fall festivals in Alberta. So, grab your latte, pull on your wellies and lets get exploring.
When: October 12-21
Where: Jasper, Alberta
Events: Schedule of Events can be found on the Dark Sky website
Did you know that in 2011 Jasper was designated a Dark Sky Reserve, by the Royal Astronomical Society “due to its limited light pollution that creates ideal conditions for dark sky viewing” (source)
Jasper National Park is one of 17 designated Dark Sky Preserves in Canada. We are the second largest Dark Sky Preserve in the world, and we are the largest accessible Dark Sky Preserve – meaning there’s a town within the limits of the preserve. – Jasper Dark Sky Festival
Not your typical ‘fall festival’ there are no farms, pumpkins but the dark sky festival is unlike any other you’ll attend this fall. With both free and paid events, attendees will have the opportunity to listen to world famous scientists, astronauts, go star gazing or take photography workshops. Plus… you’re in Jasper and there are lots to do with the family while you’re there as we’ve written about before (tips for staying in Jasper inexpensively are here, for food with kids click here).
School is FINALLLLLYY starting, and while it’s going to be lonely and quiet at home, it’s also going to be SO GOOD! My kids, they need to be at school. They’ve had a great summer holiday, and now it’s time to get back to reality (and structure and something other than complaining that they’re bored).
Cute animals, food and local breweries and that’s just the start of Alberta Open Farm Days.
On August 18 and 19 all Albertans are invited to join their rural neighbours to learn how your food gets from the farm to your table at Alberta Open Farm Days.
Admission: FREE with the exception of the Culinary events.
Location: All across Alberta
When: August 18 & 19
What: Three types of events: Culinary and Farm Tours.
The drive between Calgary and Edmonton can be pretty and also pretty monotonous, and it’s not often I decide to go off the highway. Opportunity leant itself for a “side” road trip when driving from Calgary a few weeks ago. Deanne and I decided that we were on a road trip we were going to make the most of it. We left Calgary and headed up the Cowboy Trail for a perfect little side trip.
I make semi-regular trips to Canmore, and when I drive past the Canmore Reservoir, past the turquoise blue water framed by the Rocky Mountains, I’ve seen the paddleboarders out there looking so cool and standing on their boards in one of the most beautiful places in the world and I keep thinking, “I want to do that.”
I finally had my chance to paddleboard otherwise known as SUP (the term SUP refers to stand up paddleboarding) after the Rocky Mountain Soap Women’s Run this past May, and now I’m convinced everyone needs to have a go because it was a) not as hard as I thought* b) really peaceful out on the reservoir! If every parent doesn’t need to spend some time out alone (or with friends) on a lake in Alberta, who does?
*I must preface this with I’m not athletic, or coordinated, and am more likely to be found in my house than out being active in nature.
If your kids are anything like mine, they’re very particular about the types of camps they attend summer. We don’t do a lot of camps during the summer because being bored is important for kids (as well as being very annoying for mom and dad), and the costs of camps can really add up (especially with three kids). The camps we sign the kids up for have to be special in that they’re learning a skill or improving on a skill set they have. It’s a lot of money to send kids to a camp so it’s important to us to make sure that the camp is a high quality. As a parent I get excited when my kids get excited about camps and here’s a couple that we’re excited about from Metro Continuing Education in Edmonton.
We’re excited to be giving away a one week camp up to $400 for one lucky winner! Contest rules are below, but here are some of our favourite camps at Metro Continuing Education to get you thinking of what class you’d like to win! * Contest is now closed*
